FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT JURY DUTY - PAGE 2

A reduction in bail was denied Tuesday for a woman charged with threatening to blow up the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton to avoid jury duty. Toby Owhoka, 48, of the 900 block of College Boulevard in Addison has been held in lieu of $50,000 bail in the County Jail since being charged March 4 with felony disorderly conduct. She is accused of making the threat to an employee of the DuPage County Jury Commission who had called to ask her about missing two requests to show up for jury duty.

Had he worn his black robe when he showed up for jury duty Tuesday in Marlborough, Mass., Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer would have drawn more attention. Not even District Court Judge Thomas Sullivan Jr. recognized Breyer, until he called off the justice's name. Breyer didn't sit on a jury: The defense attorney in one case excluded him, reportedly saying, "The last thing I need is two judges on the case." ---------- Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel showed up at the Daley Center for jury duty today but was dismissed without being called. The mayor spent part of his morning watching a video called “How To Be a Juror,” spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said. Although the mayor did not put his call to jury duty on his daily schedule released each evening to the media for planning purposes, Emanuel did note his arrival on Foursquare. That in turn was sent to his Twitter account. “Performing my civic duty for the American judicial system.

Rod Blagojevich may have been the one on trial, but a 22-year-old would-be investment banker was the one put on the hot seat by U.S. District Judge James Zagel as jury selection commenced Thursday. The judge made it clear he had nothing but contempt for the flippant answers the man had supplied on a pretrial questionnaire to try to escape jury duty. Zagel first congratulated him on penning "the best questionnaire I read." The judge then launched an exquisite evisceration, noting that the undisclosed man had written "bad temper" when asked if he had a medical condition that could make it hard to serve on the jury.

A medical sales representative who bolted out of town for a business trip while serving on a federal jury was spared jail today by a federal judge. U.S. District Chief Judge James Holderman fined Scott Enke the maximum $1,000 and ordered him to attend a legal symposium on jury service and to write up a statement about what happened that the court can use to educate the public. Enke, from Plainfield, had served as a juror for five days in March at a criminal trial when he abruptly failed to show up in federal court in Chicago to attend a business appointment in Iowa.

The Cannes Film Festival announced the full make-up of the competition jury on Wednesday. Italian helmer-actor-producer Nanni Moretti will preside over an eclectic group including British thesp Ewan McGregor, German actress Diane Kruger, U.S. helmer Alexander Payne, Palestinian thesp-turned-helmer Hiam Abbass, British scribe-director Andrea Arnold, French actress Emmanuelle Devos, Gallic fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier and Haitian filmmaker Raoul...

Rev. Jesse Jackson was excused from jury duty Monday by Cook County Circuit Judge Loretta H. Morgan. The judge excused Jackson because he had been scheduled to testify before a congressional committee Tuesday, the same day the trial was set to begin. Before he was excused, Jackson waited with other potential jurors from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jackson said it was the first time he had been called for jury duty.

A man reporting for jury duty was arrested when security discovered that his cane concealed a 2 1/2-foot sword and a 6-inch dagger, police said. Vladislav Lisetskiy, 40, was arrested Monday at Brooklyn Supreme Court as he attempted to pass through security, police said. New York state law prohibits concealed blades or knives. Lisetskiy was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon.

The Post-Tribune reports: A Lake County, Indiana, court judge has ordered a prospective juror who left the courthouse during jury selection to stand in front of the building the next two Mondays with a signs that reads "I failed to appear for jury duty. " The man left the courthouse at the lunch break during jury selection Dec. 5 for a drunk driving trial. The man acknowledged he hadn't followed the judge's instructions in leaving, and the judge told him to show up at the courthouse with the sign at 7:30 a.m. next Monday and Feb. 6 with instructions to walk in front of the courthouse until court bailiffs let him leave.

No one took any notice of the tall, slim man who appeared Tuesday for jury duty. Had he worn his black robe, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer no doubt would have drawn more attention. Even District Court Judge Thomas Sullivan Jr. didn't recognize Breyer until he read the justice's name on a document listing potential jurors. Two cases were to be heard. Breyer wasn't picked for either. Breyer, 66, said he felt it was important to do his duty and report to the courthouse, about 30 miles west of Boston.